3-Ingredient Cinnamon Rolls—So Decadent, So Simple It Might Be Illegal!
A quick glance at the calendar tells me that the Holidays are in full view ahead! There was a time that I felt compelled to rise early on Christmas morning to bake Cinnamon Rolls—my family’s breakfast item of choice on that very special day of the year.
When I say early, I mean 3:30 am. It takes hours for sweet bread dough to rise multiple times. And let’s just say that over the years, some attempts have been more successful than others.
Those days are gone. I’m done with that routine and not because I don’t love my family.
Now I sleep in until 40 minutes before I want everyone to wake up to the smell of fresh, hot, decadent, perfect-every-time Cinnamon Rolls with heavy cream and brown sugar.
I may regret letting the cat out of the bag on this because they still think I’m a world-class Cinnamon Roll baker. But for right now, I’m excited to show-and-tell the most outrageously awesome food hack I’ve ever discovered.
You’re going to doubt me as we get started here, but you shouldn’t. Trust me on this. Magnificent Cinnamon Rolls in no more than 40 minutes from start to glorious finish.
Ok, here we go:
Ingredients
You’ll need:
- Pillsbury Grands! Cinnamon Rolls
- light brown sugar
- heavy cream
That’s it.
Directions
Lightly spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Open both cans of refrigerated dough. You’ll find 5 rolls in each can plus a little tub of icing. Set the icing aside for later, then arrange the rolls in the baking dish—4 down the middle, and 3 on each side.
All of those open spaces will fill up, so do not be concerned about this arrangement.
In a small bowl or preferably, a 2-cup measuring cup, combine 1 cup light brown sugar and 1 cup heavy whipping cream.
Mix well until the sugar and heavy cream are fully incorporated and it looks like melted ice cream. You’ll be tempted to take a sip, but do not give in. You need every drop for these amazing Cinnamon Rolls.
Pour this thick liquid over the rolls. Every last drop of it.
The rolls will appear to be swimming in liquid and you will be certain this cannot possibly be right. Do not fret. This is right. And for the record, up to this point you have spent 5 minutes prepping this recipe.
Place baking dish and rolls into the pre-heated oven. Set a timer for 32 minutes. Note: 5 + 32 = 37 minutes.
NOTE: Your time may vary depending on your oven, so check at 32 minutes. Do not over bake!
Once the timer goes off, check to make sure rolls are golden brown. They may look slightly underbaked, and this is right. However, not every oven is the same—yours may be calibrated slightly different than mine, so use your good judgment. Just be careful not to overbake! I have determined that 32 minutes at 350F. is the perfect amount of time for my oven.
Important!
While baking, remove all evidence (packaging for those cans of cinnamon dough for starters) by pushing it way to the bottom of the trash can. I am not suggesting that you lie, not at all! I do suggest that you simply clean up, to avoid any hint of negativity or chiding on such a lovely day.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool only as long as it takes to open those little tubs of icing.
Halve the recipe
To make half this recipe (1 tube of 5 cinnamon rolls) start with an 8″ x 8″ baking dish, 1 can of Grands! Cinnamon Rolls, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup brown sugar. Place one roll in each corner of the pan and one in the center. Carry on.
Spread the icing over the hot Cinnamon Rolls, and there you have the last 2 minutes, to make it about 35 minutes start to finish.
Greet your family members as they will now be wandering into the kitchen to find out what smells so amazing.
Serve warm and enjoy!
Recipe
Cinnamon Rolls with Cream and Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- 2 cans Pillsbury Grands! Cinnamon Rolls (See NOTE 1)
- 1 cup light brown sugar (See NOTE 2)
- 1 cup heavy cream (See NOTE 4)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Lightly spray 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray, or grease the pan with butter.
- Open cans by following the directions on the label. Set aside both tubs of icing.
- Arrange the 10 rolls (5 in each can) in a 9" x 13" baking dish as follows: 4 rolls down the middle and 3 on each side.
- In a small bowl or 2-cup glass measuring cup, place 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup heavy cream. Mix well until it looks like melted ice cream.
- Pour the liquid over the rolls
- Bake at 350 F for 32 - 36 minutes. (Do not overtake!) Remove rolls from the oven. Allow cooling for 2 to 5 minutes.
- Spread the icing over the rolls.
Notes
- To make half this recipe (1 tube of 5 cinnamon rolls) start with an 8" x 8" baking dish, 1 can of Grands! Cinnamon Rolls, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup brown sugar. Place one roll in each corner of the pan and one in the center. Carry on.
- While the recipe stipulates light brown sugar, the dark option works well so use what you have. I will say that my familyl prefers the recipe made with light brown sugar.
- DIY brown sugar: Yes you can make it yourself! Place 1 cup of white granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of molasses in a small bowl. Using a fork, press and stir until the molasses and sugar are fully incorporated.
- Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream work equally well.
Nutrition
First published: 12-04-18; Updated and republished 11-29-21
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I’m also not a fan of people changing and then rating recipes. But I really wanted to try this concept but had not planned well in my shopping. I had to make some substitutions but rate this as five stars because it is an excellent BASE recipe. That said, I would never substitute the heavy cream. Heavy cream just makes everything better. I found swerve to be a fine substitute for brown sugar. I kept it at the same 1:1 ratio with the cream. My biggest sub was that I accidentally did not buy Grands. I used the regular “not Grand” cinnamon rolls. I scaled the cream/sugar volume down to match the smaller size/volume of the regular rolls. I used 2/3 cup of cream/Swerve brown sugar for 1 pkg of 8 regular size cinnamon rolls. This was awesome!! It even pleased my picky husband who thinks he likes everything dry and burnt. The remaining goop on the pan was also consumed and deemed delicious! I imagine that the original recipe does provide a more glorious presentation for a crowd.
So I was hopeful but a tad bit skeptical. I literally took them out of the oven about 30 mins ago and had to come and post a comment for everyone who is skeptical like I was. DO IT – MAKE THESE. oh my goodness, absolutely amazing. First the whole house smells delicious and second they are so so good ❤️ My husband last night said you’re really going to do this the first time on Christmas Morning, no trial run. Wow were we both shocked. TyTyTy. I have MS and my hands don’t work well anymore so baking doesn’t happen like it use to, especially after making a big Christmas Eve dinner. This is the BEST recipe “hack” ever !! TyTy so much. Merry Christmas.
Could this be made with the regular sized cinnamon rolls too? Same configuration just double the rolls to fit the space?
I’ve tried this, Arlene. I don’t know … maybe I am too picky, but the small version Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls just don’t cut it. They don’t perform the same, nor do they taste the same. At least that’s the feedback from my family. I’m sure Pillsbury would deny this … so it could just be a personal thing. Try it and let us know how that works for our. BTW, I have tried other brands of cinnamon rolls in a tube. Nope. Never going to do that again! It’s just not the same. Again, maybe it’s just me, but I can’t recommend it.
Best secret ever! Made 1/2 batch the 1at time this last Sunday, making a full batch for coworkers tomorrow. So Yummy!
Gonna keep doing this and keeping the secret too.
I’m making this for Christmas morning. Can you make these ahead of time, everything but the baking, and just refrigerate until ready to bake?
I have never tried that, which makes me very hesitant to suggest it might work. It makes sense that it might since the dough is already being refrigerated in that can, and you’d just be moving them from can to baking dish. But there are a lot of variables, i.e. will the dough soak up the liquid making the cinnamon rolls all soggy? Will the dough, once opened and exposed to the air, lose its leavening power that makes the rolls rise? I don’t know and don’t have sufficient time to test that for you. My advice is to get up 40 mins earlier and make them as written. I do plan to test this in the future, and I’ll report back my experience.
Wonderful, we love eating these on Christmas morning.
I love this recipe. If they ask did you really make this I just say it’s a secret
FYI I don’t use the icing. just sprinkle a little cinnamon
Mer Hoffman
I love this recipe! I now gather the ingredients for my daughter so her young family can enjoy them first thing Christmas morning.
My challenge now is finding the Grand cinnamon rolls at the store. Seems that your recipe is well loved. I’ll keep searching. It’s worth it!!
Do you think this could be made using half and half instead of heavy whipping cream?
No. I have tested using half and half and ended up with a very watery soggy situation.
So glad you answered this question, because that is exactly what I was going to do. Use half and half to try to save some calories. But now I’ll get to the store. 🙂
I’ve done a version of this for 54 years! I usually wait until my cinnamon rolls are halfway baked and then pour the cream/brown sugar over it. I really like your way, as I wouldn’t have to open the oven and lose heat, and I think having it bake along with the rolls the entire time would allow it to have a more pronounced caramel flavor. I always make my own cinnamon rolls and freeze them. Thanks for the idea!
I have been making these since Mary Hunt first shared this wonderful recipe! It’s so easy and they are always a huge hit in my home!